The California Condor neared extinction in the 1980s until biologists nurtured the population and saw their numbers grow upward to over 400. However, these noble birds face a grave threat which prevents them from flourishing further…lead poisoning. SCAVENGER HUNT chronicles the dilemma between bird and man, as the birds are being poisoned by lead which they contract from eating the flesh of deer with lead ammunition fragments. Filmmaker Matthew Podolsky finds the one person who understands all sides of the issue: Chris Parish, the Condor Program Director charged with protecting the birds who is also a lifelong hunter. Parish is the link to reconciling card-holding NRA members with the EPA activists with his efforts to convert hunters voluntarily to non-lead ammunition.

Notes from the Director

This project began with one simple goal: to convince hunters to switch to non-lead ammunition to prevent condors and other scavengers from being poisoned. While we were shooting video, what had started as a small local issue exploded into a national political debate when it became clear that lead particles were being consumed, not just by scavengers, but by hunters and their families. As the details of this debate played out, it became clear that the voices of the biologists who were most directly involved were grossly under-represented. Organizations that had little to no involvement in biological research and management were arguing back and forth over the issue of a nationwide ban on lead-based ammunition. Meanwhile, this small group of hunters and biologists in Northern Arizona had quietly convinced 90% of hunters in the region to use non-lead ammunition voluntarily.
Our goal with this film is not to say that a voluntary effort is the best or only solution to the problem. Instead, we hope that this film will allow hunters to get the credit that they deserve for the effort that they have put forth to protect one of the world’s most endangered bird species. We hope to show that despite the ever present rhetoric from gun rights organizations like the NRA and the NSSF, hunters truly are America’s greatest conservationists.